The Next Great American Remix (Latinos Will Help)

Giovanni Rodriguez
, ContributorI write about the past, present, and future of citizen empowermentOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

@giorodriguez How do you improve social relations between different and sometimes opposing groups? By deeply exploring the things that bind.

Last week, I got the opportunity to help put a concept into practice – albeit in its early phases – that is beginning to catch on as a new way to think about multicultural engagement. Instead of engaging a group by targeting it -- or marketing to it, as a lot of people in my world think – it would do better to find ways to mix with it, to the extent that this is possible.

Background: Several months ago, I was introduced to a leader of a diaspora community with tens of thousands of citizens in the San Francisco Bay Area. There was an opportunity for this community to work more closely with Latinos, but the question was how. We did a quick format design for the first meeting -- a small roundtable with leaders from the diaspora community and with leaders in the Latino community. The agenda was to explore what we could all do with one another. A few ideas got immediate nods of approval: a mentorship network; an internship program for Latino students; a delegation of Latinos to the home country of the diaspora group.

The conversation was thoughtful -- polite -- as we took turns around the table to identify the right program for getting started. But it was only when we addressed the elephant in the room that people began to get excited. The fact is, the two groups actually have a lot in common if you take the time to look at culture, history, and, most important of all, shared aspirations. We agreed on a first project: a social event.

Culture

There are good reasons why Latinos ought to be thinking of the remix as a model for their own work in engaging other groups. First, a look at this thing we call culture. What we discovered at the roundtable was that both cultures that were represented were known – perhaps stereotypically – for their talent in designing celebrations. Yes, we both love to party. But not in a crass, shallow way (though there’s a bit of that, too). And, as I have written in earlier articles (including a recent piece here), the Latino approach to other cultures is invitational (“mi casa es su casa”), which enables us to open the party for others to join. Think of it as an asset that can be exploited for the benefit of both cultures in the remix. In marketing and engagement, you always work with what you’ve got.

History

Here’s another asset: Latinos have an enormously complex history, spanning many centuries. covering vast geographical expanses in the old world and the new. This enables us to work with other cultures to find key points of resonance – borrowing a term from the world of conflict engagement – even if the cultures, on the surface, seem opposed. And as I recently noted in another recent article, remixing through history can help us bind different cultures at a deeper level. And while it’s easier said than done – because history of evidence of who we are is often buried, and needs to be excavated, the process often requires a bit of social archaeology– there are models for doing this kind of work even between the most unlikely of remixers. Those models come from the expansive world of conflict engagement, which looks at peacemaking not just as something you do when conflict arises but what you proactively do to map a better common future.

Aspirations

Among the ideal candidates for remixes in America? I’d like to see deeper engagements between Latinos and other groups that have endured a history of subjugation, colonization, and victimhood. I’d like to see deeper engagements with cultures who are not quite supporting the Latino American dream when in fact they might support it if reminded of their own cultural and historical narratives (we are in fact a nation of immigrants). Most of all, I’d like to see deeper engagements with any culture that shares the common aspiration of remaking the future of our country. What social archaeology has shown us is that during each era of remixing, the by-product is a cultural alloy that’s potentially more resilient than its antecedents. And that’s the opportunity we all have today. I wouldn’t worry too much about how to get started, as a few us did at the roundtable last week. We know how to do this. We’ve done it before. Let’s get this party started.